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Chapter 10: Hold On Forever

First thing: we make you feel better
Next stop: we pull it all together
I'll keep you warm like a sweater
Take my hand, hold on forever
Just fall apart if you need to
I'm here and I won't leave you now
Don't look down
Hold on forever
Just take my hand; hold on forever

    "Hold on Forever" - Rob Thomas

Pete headed for The Hard Deck. It was between hours, when the lunch crowd had gone and they closed the place to get ready for the evening rush. When he arrived, the sign on the door said "Closed from 3 pm to 6 pm," but the doors were propped open. He stepped in and saw that the floors were already clean, and the tables were being readied. One of the staff was preparing the tables and straightening the chairs, and he could hear the kitchen crew clattering away. A delivery person wheeled a hand truck stacked with boxes of cans in through the back, heading for the swinging doors that led to the kitchen and cooler.

A gentle ocean breeze blew through the back doors which had been opened in the warm weather, and the sound of the waves and seagulls mingled with the sounds of people working. Penny stood behind the polished bar, holding a clipboard, her index finger resting on something on the page. It didn't look like it was really a good time to have the kind of conversation he was thinking about, but Pete was already there. He wasn't going to just turn around and leave. Besides, it was nice to see Penny in her environment, at work. Penny looked up from the clipboard to check on stock at the bar, when she saw Pete entering.

"Hey Pete Mitchell, what brings you here today?" Penny said, looking over from her clipboard.

"I just wanted to see you," he said, with a grin.

"Hmm," Penny said with a knowing, but amused look on her face.  She put down her clipboard, pulling out a tray of glasses, still hot from the dishwasher. She lifted out a glass and polished the spots off of it with a cloth. "What do you have in mind Pete?"she asked with a half smile.

"What?" Pete asked.

"Nothing," Penny answered vaguely, with a twinkle in her eye. She put the glass in the storage area under the bar and inspected another glass. "You just look like you have something on your mind."

Pete didn't feel like this was the time or place to be talking about his problems. But he hadn't wanted to wait until Penny got home from work in the middle of the night either.

"So, what am I thinking?" Pete asked, holding her gaze. Penny looked back into his eyes, her lips pressed into a line and her eyebrows drawn together a little. She shook her head, grinned and shrugged, but Pete still wondered if she actually did know, but didn't want to say.  She shelved the glass in her hand and pulled out the next glass to polish.

Not fully convinced that she couldn't read his mind, he said, "Okay, so how about this. What's on your mind today?" He smiled his winning smile, and was rewarded when she smiled back, gazing into his eyes in just the way he hoped she would.

She broke of the gaze to wipe the water off the next glass and put it next to the others. "Well...I've just got to get the place ready as usual. Want to help?"

Pete hadn't thought he would be interested, but why not? It was better than sitting on the stool watching Penny work. At least he would be doing something. He was better at "doing" anyway.

"Sure, what can I do?"

"You can help me finish polishing these glasses for a start..." Pete went around the counter top and looked for a towel. He found the set up under the countertop to be interesting. It was a different perspective to see the behind-the-scene workings of the operation. Everything that was needed for the night's work was laid out and organized. There were a lot of things, but they didn't seem to be randomly placed. There didn't seem to be a lot of extra things that weren't used, as he could imagine how every item would be used in an evening's work. There was the bar tray, with lime wedges, lemon wedges, cherries. There were jiggers. There was an open tray of silverware. There were nozzles which he assumed were for seltzer, or water. There was beer on tap, each tap topped by a handle shaped to identify the brand name. A tiny faucet and sink were there. There were rows of various liquors, and he could guess which were the most commonly used by the number of back-up bottles. There were a couple of under-countertop refrigerators with glass doors, one was filled with cans of beer and soda. There was an ice machine all in stainless steel and humming. Surprisingly, it reminded him a little of the cockpit where everything was in arm's reach.